--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Therefore I begin to think, my Lord, you…" description: "\"Therefore I begin to think, my Lord, you purposely allow us to be brought into contact with the bad and evil things that You want changed. Perhaps that..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/hannah-hurnard-26020_binding_therefore-i-begin-to-think-my-lord-you-p_2765327.png" --- # Therefore I begin to think, my Lord, you purposely allow… ![“Therefore I begin to think, my Lord, you purposely allow us to be brought into contact with the bad and evil things that You want changed. Perhaps that is the very reason why we are here in this world, where sin and sorrow and suffering and evil abound, so that we may let You teach us so to react…” quote by Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/hannah-hurnard-26020_binding_therefore-i-begin-to-think-my-lord-you-p_2765327.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/hannah-hurnard-26020_binding_therefore-i-begin-to-think-my-lord-you-p_2765327.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/49f/hannah-hurnard-26020_binding_therefore-i-begin-to-think-my-lord-you-p_2765327.png) > “Therefore I begin to think, my Lord, you purposely allow us to be brought into contact with the bad and evil things that You want changed. Perhaps that is the very reason why we are here in this world, where sin and sorrow and suffering and evil abound, so that we may let You teach us so to react to them, that out of them we can create lovely qualities to live forever. That is really the only satisfactory way of dealing with evil. Not simply binding it so that it cannot work harm, but whenever possible overcoming it with good.” [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Evil exists to teach and transform, urging believers to respond with goodness rather than merely restraining it. **In simple terms:** Suffering teaches and shapes us. Key Takeaway Respond with good. Themes faith suffering transformation Mood reflective hopeful Type spiritual ethical When to use this quote - personal trials - community service - moral choices Key Concepts theodicy spiritual growth Questions to Reflect On - How can we find purpose in suffering? - What actions reflect overcoming evil? A Different Perspective Bad may feel overwhelming. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-things/) [Harm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/harm/) [Live forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/live-forever/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Overcoming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overcoming/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Why we are here](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/why-we-are-here/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Don't mourn over your bad decisions. Just start overcoming them with good ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-meyer/don-t-mourn-over-your-bad-decisions-just-start-overcoming-them-with/) [Joyce Meyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-meyer/) > [“He finally found someone like him. Someone who shared his abilities, someone who understood what he had to go through every day. And she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaxon-reed/he-finally-found-someone-like-him-someone-who-shared-his-abilities/) Jaxon Reed > [Comedy is good at analysing and dealing with evil because it doesn't present it as evil but a collection of banalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-farr/comedy-is-good-at-analysing-and-dealing-with-evil-because-it-doesn-t/) [David Farr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-farr/) > [“You think some are bad or evil or whatnot, but somewhere along the way they were someone's baby, suckling the teat like anybody. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-heathcock/you-think-some-are-bad-or-evil-or-whatnot-but-somewhere-along-the-way/) [Alan Heathcock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-heathcock/) > [“Everything we do seems bad to you, because evil is a point of view.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/izzy-taylor/everything-we-do-seems-bad-to-you-because-evil-is-a-point-of-view/) Izzy Taylor > [“Dealing with evil was something only the Lord could do, and in His timing He most certainly would deal with it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-kingsbury/dealing-with-evil-was-something-only-the-lord-could-do-and-in-his/) [Karen Kingsbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-kingsbury/) > [Those who hope for purity and righteousness always try and destroy that which disturbs them. They think the disturbance comes from outside themselves. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-warner/those-who-hope-for-purity-and-righteousness-always-try-and-destroy/) [Brad Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-warner/) > [At some point we must make a decision not to allow the mere threat of charges of cultural or religious insensitivity to stop us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/armstrong-williams/at-some-point-we-must-make-a-decision-not-to-allow-the-mere-threat-of/) [Armstrong Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/armstrong-williams/) > [“Who is safe? No one. There is too much bad, too much evil in the world to ever be safe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarryn-fisher/who-is-safe-no-one-there-is-too-much-bad-too-much-evil-in-the-world/) [Tarryn Fisher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarryn-fisher/) > [“Too bad evil people sometimes live in peaceful towns,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-rose/too-bad-evil-people-sometimes-live-in-peaceful-towns/) [Karen Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-rose/) > [When we deny the EVIL within ourselves, we dehumanize ourselves, and we deprive ourselves not only of our own destiny but of any possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-robert-oppenheimer/when-we-deny-the-evil-within-ourselves-we-dehumanize-ourselves-and-we/) [J. Robert Oppenheimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-robert-oppenheimer/) > [“In the Garden story, good and evil are found on the same tree, not in separate orchards. Good and evil give meaning and definition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terryl-l-givens/in-the-garden-story-good-and-evil-are-found-on-the-same-tree-not-in/) [Terryl L. Givens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terryl-l-givens/) > [The hell of human suffering, evil and oppression is paved with good intentions. The men who have most injured and oppressed humanity, who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-briffault/the-hell-of-human-suffering-evil-and-oppression-is-paved-with-good/) [Robert Briffault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-briffault/) > [Don't be afraid of anything. We've seen so much suffering and evil in the 20th century and we got through it. We can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-novak/don-t-be-afraid-of-anything-we-ve-seen-so-much-suffering-and-evil-in/) [Michael Novak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-novak/) > [People are tempted to think (understandably) that if God were really good He'd never allow any evil in the world at all. But I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-koukl/people-are-tempted-to-think-understandably-that-if-god-were-really/) [Greg Koukl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-koukl/) ## More by Hannah Hurnard > [Your reactions to your enemy can hurt you more than your enemy can.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/your-reactions-to-your-enemy-can-hurt-you-more-than-your-enemy-can/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [As Christians we know, in theory at least, that in the life of a child of God there are no second causes, that even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/as-christians-we-know-in-theory-at-least-that-in-the-life-of-a-child/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [... Every circumstance in life, no matter how crooked and distorted and ugly it appears to be, if it is reacted to in love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/every-circumstance-in-life-no-matter-how-crooked-and-distorted-and/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [“There is absolutely no experience, however terrible, or heartbreaking, or unjust, or cruel, or evil, which you can meet in the course of your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/there-is-absolutely-no-experience-however-terrible-or-heartbreaking/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Those who love most, see most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/those-who-love-most-see-most/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [He shines upon me and makes me to rejoice, and has atoned for me all that was taken from me and done against me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/he-shines-upon-me-and-makes-me-to-rejoice-and-has-atoned-for-me-all/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [“Up from behind a sand dune close beside her rose the form of her enemy Bitterness. He did not come any nearer, having learned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/up-from-behind-a-sand-dune-close-beside-her-rose-the-form-of-her/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Prayer need not be a burdensome duty. It is meant to be a joyful and creative privilege.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/prayer-need-not-be-a-burdensome-duty-it-is-meant-to-be-a-joyful-and/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [I have tried to show as clearly as possible that the very characteristics and weaknesses of temperament with which we were born...can be transformed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/i-have-tried-to-show-as-clearly-as-possible-that-the-very/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [The heart knoweth its own sorrow and there are times when, like David, it is comforting to think that our tears are put in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/the-heart-knoweth-its-own-sorrow-and-there-are-times-when-like-david/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Love opens the eyes of our understanding and enables us to see more of the truth than can those who are blinded by self-love.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/love-opens-the-eyes-of-our-understanding-and-enables-us-to-see-more/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [God has made us for Himself, and our hearts can never know rest and perfect satisfaction until they find it in Him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/god-has-made-us-for-himself-and-our-hearts-can-never-know-rest-and/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [It is better to go stumbling, and weeping, and crawling like a worm along the way of love, than to give up and choose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/it-is-better-to-go-stumbling-and-weeping-and-crawling-like-a-worm/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [Behold me, here I am; thy little handmaiden Acceptance-with-Joy and all that is in my heart is thine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/behold-me-here-i-am-thy-little-handmaiden-acceptance-with-joy-and-all/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) > [“You may think that Much-Afraid was altogether too much given to shedding tears, but remember that she had Sorrow for a companion and teacher.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-hurnard/you-may-think-that-much-afraid-was-altogether-too-much-given-to/) [Hannah Hurnard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) [Explore all 22 Hannah Hurnard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-hurnard/) ## More Binding quotes > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [“My heart almost vaulted out of my chest. I was snuggled against Ryan’s shoulder. We were burrowed under the cloak and sleeping bag, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-dogra/my-heart-almost-vaulted-out-of-my-chest-i-was-snuggled-against-ryan-s/) [Sam Dogra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-dogra/) > [One thing that Chairman Mao did was to end the appalling foot binding of women. That alone justifies the Mao Tse-tung era.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-livingstone/one-thing-that-chairman-mao-did-was-to-end-the-appalling-foot-binding/) [Ken Livingstone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-livingstone/) > [The ultimate binding element in the medieval order was subordination to the divine will and its earthly representatives, notably the pope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irving-babbitt/the-ultimate-binding-element-in-the-medieval-order-was-subordination/) [Irving Babbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/irving-babbitt/) > [Love is the binding force on every level of existence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/love-is-the-binding-force-on-every-level-of-existence/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [When I stand in a library where is all the recorded wit of the world, but none of the recording, a mere accumulated, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/when-i-stand-in-a-library-where-is-all-the-recorded-wit-of-the-world/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [There is one single thread binding my way together...the way of the Master consists in doing one's best...that is all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/there-is-one-single-thread-binding-my-way-together-the-way-of-the/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [The future belongs to social media. It is egalitarian and inclusive. Social media is not about any country, any language, any colour, any community…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/narendra-modi/the-future-belongs-to-social-media-it-is-egalitarian-and-inclusive/) [Narendra Modi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/narendra-modi/) > [To regard human beings as tools - as instruments - for the use of other human beings is not only unscientific but it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-korzybski/to-regard-human-beings-as-tools-as-instruments-for-the-use-of-other/) [Alfred Korzybski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-korzybski/) > [To a man who is uncorrupt and properly constituted, woman always remains something of a mystery and a romance. He never interprets her quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-parton/to-a-man-who-is-uncorrupt-and-properly-constituted-woman-always/) [James Parton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-parton/) > [And priests in black gowns were walking their rounds and binding with briars my joys and desires. (from 'The Garden of Love')](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-blake/and-priests-in-black-gowns-were-walking-their-rounds-and-binding-with/) [William Blake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-blake/) > [There comes not seldom a crisis in the life of men, of nations, and of worlds, when the old forms seem ready to decay,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-n-cardozo/there-comes-not-seldom-a-crisis-in-the-life-of-men-of-nations-and-of/) [Benjamin N. Cardozo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-n-cardozo/) > [Christ's commandment to hear the Church . . . is binding on all men, in every period, and every country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-xi/christ-s-commandment-to-hear-the-church-is-binding-on-all-men-in/) [Pope Pius XI](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-xi/) > [Pure love is the best medicine for the modern world. This is what is lacking in all societies. The root cause of all problems,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/pure-love-is-the-best-medicine-for-the-modern-world-this-is-what-is/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [Commitment . . . is a binding, but happy, response to duty. It is at once peaceful yet compelling, for it obligates one to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-m-paramore/commitment-is-a-binding-but-happy-response-to-duty-it-is-at-once/) James M. 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